Chapter 35- Struggle?

Nike.

That was the name she was given by her…Partner. That was one of the ways he called her, but it wasn’t her favorite. The favorite was Starter. She didn’t know why but there was always more emotion when he said that word. One time she tried to listen to them while he said it. She almost hit him because it was loud. But she didn’t. She knew the emotions it conveyed and was enough to call her back to reason.

It was painful. But that was one pain she would always welcome.

Her partner also told her that her name held power. He told her tales from afar. Tales of a goddess that brought victory to those who prayed to her. She wasn’t a god. Only the Original One was. But she echoed the sentiment. He told her tales of a ferocious fighter. Tales of an unparalleled tactician. Tales of a warrior of the mind. Tales of Nike.

At first, she did not understand all the big words. He was happy when talking about it, and that made her happy. Then she started to understand the stories. And she promised herself to live up …no, be stronger than the tales. Who could be a better warrior of the mind than her? She would allow no one!

So, when she saw the bad guy appear behind her partner just before he fell to the ground…

She did all she could to protect the ones she cherished

---

“You had to, didn’t you?” Mu sighed exasperatedly.

Theirs had been a simple grab-and-deliver type of mission. But of course, the higher-ups thought that it was a good idea to pair up with a muscle-brained idiot for that mission. Granted, his team was more apt to deal with cases where more…persuasive methods were needed but this was hardly the case.

Well…

Mu looked at the boy who now lay unconscious on the ground. that wasn’t part of the plan either. they were asked to simply retrieve the Dewott that they located on the outskirts of the woods. How they managed to find the Pokemon but did not retrieve it themselves was beyond her, but the eggheads were pretty insistent on keeping everything on the down low. Needless to say, having a brat catch the Pokemon under their noses wouldn’t satisfy the conditions.

“You know how insistent they were on retrieving that one. We can’t take any risks. Now help retrieve his Pokeballs before-”

As if waiting for this moment, the Pokemon of the unconscious boy sprang into action. The first to make its move was the small pink one but that decision showed that it would be harder than they had expected. There were barely a few meters between the Pokemon and themselves with the boy lying between them. So, when the pink one disappeared she panicked thinking it was escaping to call for help. It was too late since it already left, but as long as they were fast enough they would be long gone when the rescuers arrived.

“Amoonguss quickly put them to slee-” She began but was interrupted when she noticed the boy was no longer there.

Instead, he now laid behind the line of Pokemon that formed a cluster around him, only their target looking a bit out of it before it was snapped back to reality by a call from the Riolu. However, she was not alone nor was she and her Pokemon wet behind the ears. Amoonguss didn’t need her to finish the command before releasing the same cloud of pollen that put their trainer to sleep. This time, he completely forwent subtlety, opting for quantity as a cloud so thick it blocked their vision and covered the group.

At the same time, her colleague quickly released his Druddigon. She was still in disbelief at the fact that they supplied him with such a powerful Pokemon. A dragon type no less. Immediately, the dragon type made its presence known with a mighty bellow that shook Mu to her core. A pointless display since with the amount of Spores released, the Pokemon would be completely out for the count. In the end, dragons simply liked to show off.

With these thoughts running through her head, it was understandable that she was startled to the point of inaction when attacks are what emerged from the cloud masking their view. And, unfortunately for her, her Amoonguss was the primary target, receiving rocks that staggered him, shortly after, a gout of purple fire that clung to her Pokemon before finally an orb of pulsating water crashed into it. with that, she didn’t even have time to react that her Pokemon was rendered unconscious.

How in the world were they still awake? The amount of spores released should have been enough to put even a rampaging Hydreigon in a state of peaceful slumber. She gritted her teeth in frustration and quickly returned it to avoid irreversible damage. At the same time, she squinted her eyes and looked at the group of Pokemon to try and make sense of the situation. Thankfully the attacks had dispersed more of the spores and she now had a clear line of sight to them, which allowed her to see the pink mist hugging the ground.

“Be careful they have a fairy!” she communicated to her partner. “Misty Terrain.”

It was frustrating that her Pokemon was knocked out by a group from a single brat.What’s more, she couldn’t even call her other Pokemon because of Druddigon. The dragon type quickly flew off the handles when other dragons were involved. Which was why she had her Amoonguss out since the meathead only brought one Pokemon. But that frustration quickly turned into a dark sense of glee as she noticed that Druddigon had already closed the distance.

She hadn’t noticed, but the dragon type seemed to have had quite the anger built up since the morning. She almost pitied the group. Almost. At the same time, however, she remembered to warn her partner.

“be careful that it doesn’t kill any of them. We can’t afford an investigation now. Especially since that was there earlier.”

She shuddered at the memories of the flying ghost type that went over them earlier today. She didn’t see who the trainer was, but anyone who had a Golurk wouldn’t be your average, run-of-the-mill trainer. She steadied herself and quickly got into position to intercept the Pokemon in case they decided to abandon their trainer and run. She could only hope that the psychic type was not proficient enough with Teleport. She squinted her eyes intent on catching any movement of the group.

So much so that she missed the strange occurrence with her own shadow.

---

Nike was already prepared to punch the bad guys until they couldn’t hurt Nexon again. She already used Calm Mind to give them a bigger hurt. The only reason she still had a bit of logic left was because she noticed that their Pokemon was stronger. She took advantage when they were talking and went for the important task. In quick succession, she used Teleport to bring their trainer back behind them. It also helped that now they can attack.

That served to snap her teammate out of their surprise. The only problem was that the bad guys did too. Thanks to her Calm Mind she also noticed that the weird mushroom That did something to Nexon was doing it again. time slowed to a crawl as she tried to look for something. If they fell too, Nexon would be hurt.

Then she remembered why he told her that the move she was learning was important. He said something about stopping bad effects. Maybe it could help them? Maybe it could wake Nexon and they will beat the bad guy. But at the same time, she didn’t have time. Nike was strong but the move took too much time. But she wasn’t alone.

She extended her mind to her two teammates. If Nexon saw her do it he would have been surprised. The lady with floating hair told her not to, but Nike had been training in secret to do it. and with her evolution, it wasn’t a problem to do it with people she was familiar with. Big sis Jeanne also said it would be fine! So she did.

‘Protect us.’

She had to be fast and hoped one of them would be faster. Tia was faster because she was used to listening to her big sister. She would need to remind herself to sneak more food for her later. The ‘battle maniac’ took longer but t by the time the attack came the barrier that He had them learn was already formed.

At the same time, Nike was not still. Nike was good at doing lots at the same time because of the floaty balls. The mist exited her and stayed on the ground and soon it was enough to cover everyone. Now all she had to do was help Nexon wake up and-

Nike didn’t get finish her thought before a loud roar echoed through the clearing. She didn’t need to see the origin to understand that they couldn’t deal with the two bad guys. Thinking fast and acting even faster, she explained the plan she came up to Tiamat. Skoll had been unwilling to learn anything that did not involve punching…

Tiamat earned herself more snacks too. Nike didn’t even finish explaining everything that her little sister created rocks. She smiled viciously and condensed a ball of flame. It was time for payback! She was surprised when she saw the water type prepare an attack without her prompting, but she could only respect the excited emotion she felt from her trainer at the Ide of him joining. Nike was all for it.

They stood still with their attack ready. Waiting. As soon as the weird floaty dust moved enough that they could see the outline of the bad guys they attacked. Nike was temporarily distracted by the big guy who was not there before- the one who roared. Her distraction didn’t stop the youngest of the groups from throwing the big rock. Then she fired her attack and the water type followed her. Nike was annoyed when his water took her flame but the bad guy was sent on the ground. As much as she wanted to jump, they were two bad guys.

To her surprise, Skoll moved first toward the bad guy with lots of anger. She knew that he had been angry with Nexon for a long time after joining, so seeing the anger for him this time surprised her. But she paled the next instant at the sheer anger she felt coming from the big form. That anger was not something she ever felt before. It was anger at EVERYTHING. It just wanted to destroy. But…she also felt pain under it all…

“Come back!” she shouted but it was too late.

Her stupid brother never listened to Nike! He at least seemed to have heard her because she felt the anger calm down and he slowed a bit. The anger was still there, much like her own but it was suppressed.

“Dewott can you help him?” she resorted to asking.

He wasn’t family yet, but he had agreed to join. The Pokemon looked at her, nodded, and dashed after Skoll. If he did good, Nike would pester Nexon to give him a good name!

“Protect us,” She asked of Tia while she looked through the bag.

She remembered when Nexon told her that the berry could help. she had watched when Skoll was put to sleep and he used the juice from berry to help. She rummaged through the bag before finally finding the berry. She was happy he always had lots of berries. She grabbed it with he super-duper hand and squeezed it above the mouth that she opened with her normal hand.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She watched nervously as the liquid made its way into his mouth and waited. Time seemed to stretch as she waited. And waited. Just when she thought it didn’t work, he hurriedly sat up and started coughing. She immediately jumped to him and finally let go of her scary emotions.

“Nike?” he asked with a rasping voice before coughing once more.

“Yes! I am here!” She sniffled.

Then she watched as he took in the scene. The berry, the mist at their feet, and finally the fighting duo. His eyes went super wide and he jumped to his feet.

“Damn it!”

---

I came back to myself with a start. Before I could even understand what had happened, I was tackled by a sobbing Nike. I tried asking what happened but my voice was a rasping mess. It was only when I noticed the Chesto berry held in Nike’s Psychic grasp that I could kind of make sense of what happened.

Was I put to sleep, but by who?

My eyes drifted upward and opened wide in surprise. Skoll and Dewott were engaged in a high-speed battle against a red and blue-scaled dragon. The both of them kept attacking the Druddigon, but the dragon type seemed to shrug off the attacks as if nothing happened. At the same time, the only reason Skoll was able to move at the same speed was because of Detect. Even still, the bout of unnatural movement couldn’t stop the numerous cuts that I could see on his body.

Dewott… my heart clenched when I noticed his state. Claw marks were going through his fur, a particularly nasty one on the chest of the Pokemon. By now he was staggered on the ground and panting away from the battle. Even now, I could still see his fur being stained red.

“Damt it!”

I jumped up and hurriedly through my backpack. I needed to grab a Pokeball. It would at least stabilize Dewott then we’ll simply run away. The chance of us fighting off a dragon-like Druddigon was still low. As reluctant as I was to admit it, we were still too weak.

Dragon types in general have some of the highest attributes in general with cases like Druddigon being worse. The reason for that was simple, they were essentially fully evolved Pokemon from the start. While it meant that they never experienced an exponential growth in power like other Pokemon do when evolving, they essentially had a much bigger head start. Trying to take him on with a team that is not even fully evolved is like a human trying to take on a Pokemon.

…Ok maybe not, but the sentiment is the same.

“Damn it Druddigon! Stop playing and catch the one in the back!” An angered voice resounded.

I immediately recognized it as the same voice I heard earlier. I turned my head and saw a burly man wearing a dark blue ensemble.

Come to think of it, how long was I out? It couldn’t have been long if they are still fighting it. And more importantly, their aim is Dewott after all…

It made sense with what he said beforehand. With being the case, there was one sure way to at least relieve the pressure. But I would need to book it after that.

“Tiamat use Rock Tomb, aim for its legs! Nike use Disarming voice with everything you have. Skoll, return!” I rapid-fire orders as I finally grabbed a hold of what I was looking for. “Dewott! Don’t resist! Also Missy, now would be a great time to help!”

The last part was spoken to my shadow, but nothing happened.

Damn it! I know I said I could take care of myself but now was not a teaching moment!

As soon as I gave the command, several rocks started orbiting Tia before they shot forward at a great speed. At the same time, the red beam of light slammed into Skoll right before an attack reached him. I also threw the first ball I grabbed toward Dewott and he was sucked into the ball that soon started to shake. Nike also timed her attack so that it would hit the Druddigon right when Tia’s attack hit the Pokemon’s tough scales.

The entire sequence went by in a few seconds, not leaving time for the man to react. Well, he did react, but only when Dewott was already in the ball.

“NO!!! Damn it Mu what are you doing?!” he shouted in outrage.

The shout was surprisingly directed behind me. I pivoted rapidly only to see a woman with a Pokeball raised in her hand before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell face first. She didn’t even get time to release her Pokemon. At the same time, an ominous cackle resounded through the clearing. That cackle was strangely recognizable yet alien.

When I saw the shadow of the woman warp before gaining a third dimension, I understood. A furious Mismagius rose from the shadow like a demon summoned from hell. If not for the fact that I was familiar with the Pokemon I probably would be shitting my pants right about now. With the relief of an Elite Pokemon back at our side, I was tempted to laugh… but I also felt spiteful.

“Tia, Sand Attack! Nike, please grab the ball.”

Tia to her credit did not hesitate to launch the attack as soon as she heard it. Yet instead of spitting a cloud of dust like she usually did, one of her legs hit the ground hard and the dust lifted right below Druddigon’s feet and straight toward its face! Then Missy made her move.

Two additional forms rose from the shadow before dashing Toward Druddigon. The dragon was still flailing with the sand in his eyes. It was helpless when the first Night Shade crashed into it. Before it could stabilize itself, the second Night Shade arrived yet it did not make contact with the opposing Pokemon. Just before it did, it spontaneously burst into dark orbs of flame that shot toward the Dragon type and burst into a bigger inferno that burned it.

By the time I recognized the clever use of Will-O-Wisp, a roar shook the clearing. The flame had died down, but now, ghostly energy seeped out from every orifice of the Druddigon, sending it into bouts of agony. It did not even finish its roar of pain and anger that Missy moved herself this time, in an incredible display of speed. Then she simply erupted with light. It wasn’t any normal light either, but one containing the antithesis of anything Dragon adjacent.

The Dazzling Gleam was so bright that I had to cover my eyes. Even with that, I had to blink the spot out of my eyes. When I could finally see again, what I saw still managed to surprise me. Not only was Druddigon on the ground with what looked like scales burnt by the light, but its trainer was hanging in the right in front of Missy, enveloped in the unmistakable glow of psychic energy. I was tempted to compare her to a certain emperor of the dark side but the amount of anger roiling off of her was a bit too close to reality for that.

The fear in the eye of the man was also unmistakable. He was genuinely scared for his life until his eyes finally rolled back as well and he slumped. Missy finally let go of him and he fell in a heap back to the ground. Missy for her part seemed too still. If not for the shaking of the cloak, it would have looked like she also fell unconscious. Now that I looked at her closer, it was rhythmical, like breathing exercises.

Just then, the silence was broken by an unnaturally loud *Ding*. I looked about confused until I spotted a Duskball lying still on the ground. I did a double-take before remembering the one I bought when I was aiming for a Sandile. Well then again, I would probably change it later. The important part was the stasis-like effect it provided.

Then it hit me that the whole attack sequence of Missy took less time than a capture. I couldn't help but be amazed. I mean, I knew she was strong given that she was in Nana’s team since Sinnoh, but not ‘knocking two people out and their dragon’ kind of strong. And she wasn’t a dedicated battler.

The capture confirmation seemed like it marked the return to consciousness for everyone. Nike’s psychic hold floated the black and green ball to my hand. She was still focused on Missy’s steadying back but that much was not a problem for her. Then Missy turned around and dashed toward me. She turned once more in a different direction this time, putting herself between me and a now-shaking bush.

Damn it! There are more of them.

I cursed inwardly and returned the capsule to its travel size before stuffing it in my bag along with Skoll’s. I also grabbed Nike’s and Tia’s ready to return them at a moment’s notice. Then a mantis head popped out and I relaxed. The Leavanny took the surroundings and her head swiveled between the unconscious body, Missy, and me. Unfortunately, Missy had never met this one and was about to make a move when I interrupted.

“It’s fine. She isn’t an enemy.” I grabbed a hold of the cloak and I saw the tension leaving her body.

The wild Pokemon seemed to be curious however and fully stepped out. “Leaaa?” She cried out with a questioning lilt.

“Magi, miss mis ma” Missy answered and the bug type eyed the unconscious bodies with disdain.

Then the sparse grass at our feet gained a life of its own and wrapped the aggressors tightly. They even emitted faint groans but stayed unconscious. I took the opportunity to grab their Pokeballs too. Surprisingly, the man only had one, the Druddigon’s, while the woman had three. I honestly found it stupid that she hid all this time while she could have had back up but I wasn’t complaining. If she had joined the fight at any point who knows what would have happened.

After thanking the Leavanny, I started walking toward the Town but was stopped in my tracks. I didn’t even have time to ask why that I found myself floating in the air. Looking back I saw Missy's eyes glowing purple with the two unconscious bodies floating as well. Despite the psychic energy wrapping my body, I felt pretty free to move.

“Nike, Tia return for now,” I said, but only one of them agreed.

Nike protested and floated herself in my arms. I wanted to ease any potential burden on Missy, but it seemed the Pokemon in question didn’t mind and shot upward as soon as I grabbed Nike. Once we were past the canopy, she once more zoomed, this time toward the city, leaving my scream of surprise to scatter to the wind behind.

-

Reaching Nimbasa took us all but 5 minutes with Air Missy. It was to the point I regretted not knowing she was with us since that would have meant more time to sleep. Jeanne was surprisingly waiting for us at the connector with a serious Pops at her side. Before I could say anything, he spoke up.

“It’s fine Missy will tell us what we need to know. Some of you are hurt, right? just go to the Pokemon center and leave the rest to me.”

He didn’t let me say anything before if found myself standing in front of the counter. Next to me, Nana quickly grabbed me by the shoulder to steady me from the dizziness of the impromptu Teleport.

“He could have at least let me get ready.” I groaned.

Nana gave me a soft smile. “Sorry child but we can never be too prudent.” Then her gaze seemed to wander for a bit before snapping to me. “It seems you will also have to rest since you inhaled some spores.”

“Spores? So that’s really why I lost consciousness?” I muttered.

Nike naturally brought me up to speed and I was surprised to learn that there had been two opponents at first. That they managed to improvise enough to knock out one of the opponents was a big achievement in and of itself. That it happened to be the one that put me out was probably a coincidence…Right?

“Yes, now please give your Pokeballs, and let’s get you checked out as well.” She pushed me toward the counter where an Audino already stood at the ready.

“Please follow me, too.” The nurse urged me.

I nodded. “ The Duskball has a new capture so I don’t know I he will react. If you can release him with the one in the Pokeball first.” I added before I was rushed to the side.

Nike and Tia apparently didn’t get to fight but were rushed off still because of the spores as well. It was only a formality for them whereas for me they had to make sure. While it was technically one of the safer moves for humans, protocols had to be followed. Heck, they even told me that some sleeping drugs made use of the move, so them rushing me was because Nana was a worrywart. Of course, I wouldn’t say that to her. I knew it came from a place of love.

After about half an hour, my Pokeballs were returned to me. everyone except for Dewott was healthy. To begin with, Nike and Tia did not engage directly with the dragon and simply knocked out the Amoonguss from the start. Skoll had light scratches and gashes, but nothing that they couldn’t fix on the spot. They still advise him to rest for at least tomorrow. As for Dewott…

“Most of his injuries are minors but the one on his chest is quite a bit deeper. I would advise you not to have him move vigorously for at least three days, and after that only light training until at least a week from now. Otherwise, it will hinder the healing.”

The nurse delivered the news to my Pokemon and me with a somber tone. Dewott looked down at his bandaged chest with a mix of emotion. There was wonder, but also frustration once he learned he couldn’t train. I put my hand on his head to try and change the atmosphere and it seemed to work.

“I’m just glad you are ok. Don’t worry in a week from now you will be back in top condition!”

The diligent water type smiled and nodded. He was still displeased but at least he didn’t look like he would fight his way out of the bandage.

“Good, now let’s go meet with your Pops,” Nana said.

She had been hovering behind me all the while without saying much. Now she had Klint Teleport us in front of a police station. We ignored the startled looks and walked in. Once inside, we located Pops and I was asked to recount what happened.

“I don’t know what happened exactly. I was about to catch Dewott when I heard a voice behind then I lost consciousness. When I woke back up my Pokemon had fed me a Chesto berry while some others were already fighting with the Druddigon. After that, Missy is the one who knocked him out and caught the two people.”

The officer in front jotted everything down in the notebook. “Do you remember what the voice said?”

I frowned and tried to recall. “It was something like we can’t have that or something to that effect.”

Now it was the turn of the officer to frown and mutter to himself. “Can’t have that huh…”

“If I can?” I asked and continued once he nodded. “From what I understood they seemed to be aiming for the Dewott I was about to catch. When my Pokemon was harassing the Druddigon I heard the man shout to focus on him. But at that point, Dewott was already out of the fight.”

“So they were aiming for the Pokemon you were about to catch. Maybe that’s why they got violent” he murmured but not loud enough. “In any case, we thank you for your cooperation. We will contact you if there is anything more. We also ask that you avoid leaving the city in the meantime, or notify us of your destination in case we need to contact you. I wish you a pleasant evening.” He said while putting his cap back on his head.

Soon enough, we were free to go and we made our way back to the hotel. I wanted to stop and eat somewhere but it seemed that these two wouldn’t let me out of their sight until the situation settled down. So we got back to the hotel and waited while Pops went to get something to eat. While it was less than pleasant to be confined, there was at least something I could do. At the back of the hotel, I released my entire team. The new addition included.

“It took longer than I would have liked but, welcome to the team!” I declared and everyone cheered. Skoll was the friendliest, giving him a light shove on the shoulder. “But first, there is the issue of the Pokeball. In the rush, I threw out the wrong one. Maybe I should switch it to a normal one until I get you to try a dive ball.”

“Dewott!” he resolutely shook his head. “Ott! Wo.”

I stared at him. “Princess?”

“He likes it.” She translated helpfully.

“I get that but…” I trailed off and looked at the content smile on the water type. “Fine, if you like it then screw it! I shouted

“Language!” Nana commented from the side.

“Ahem, sorry! Now that this is out of the way, what do you say of a nickname? “ he leveled me with a flat stare. “Right, kind of like your own name. we have Nike, Skoll and Tiamat. I also want to give you one but you don’t have to.” I explained, indicating each Pokemon.

He seemed to be contemplating something.

“Treeemmm !” Nike piped up while puffing her chest.

“Ri!” Skoll declared matching Nike’s pose.

Tia simply clacked her jaw without changing her expression.

That somehow seemed to intrigue the water type and he nodded eagerly.

“I’ll need you to translate it for me later I told Nike.” She had the nerve to turn around while giggling.

I wanted to push the matter but now was not the time. Thinking about Dewott, the word that encompassed him wasn’t hard to figure out. Discipline. It was true not only at the individual level but for the species as a whole. With Samurott being at least partially based on Japanese samurai, I was tempted to give him the name of a famous samurai. The only problem was that I didn’t know any famous samurai other than Nobunaga, and that didn’t really flow off the tongue, especially during battle.

Nobunaga use Razor Shell!

…

Yeah, I would definitely bite my tongue. Maybe shortening it to Nobu or Naga? But then it loses the meaning …

Discipline… Samurais… Fighters…Warriors…

As soon as I thought of disciplined warriors, an army of 300 men defeating an opposite army flashed in my mind.

Maybe naming him after one of them? But I don’t remember their name… If I remember the god of war was Ares. Although he wasn’t really known for discipline. Neither was Kratos for that matter. If anything, it would fit Skoll much more.

When I thought of Kratos, the latest installment of the franchise popped into my head. His adventure to the land of the 9 realms. There was the god of war of these realms who was depicted as wise, patient, and skillful. Wasn’t that a reflection of Dewott during his fight with Skoll? I smiled as the piece seemed to line up perfectly.

“What do you think of Tyr? A god of war said to be a master in a wide variety of arms, but also a master of discipline.”

At that moment, his beady black eyes seemed to light up with an inner fire. He took off one of his scalchops and pointed it at the sky.

“Dewott!” He declared.

“I guess you like it then. Welcome to the team Tyr.” I joined him, shortly followed by the rest.